The Cabbage Man's Son
by IrohsTea
Summary: The sole descendant of the Cabbage Man is the Avatar. With this story, set after Korra, I explore ideas of living in a society with a strict no-bending policy. How will he ever grow the perfect cabbages without his bending? Hint: he won't.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I don't really have a plan for this fic, just letting you know. This is set after Korra and Aang, as the earth Avatar. He's the only child of the Cabbage Man. This will be fun. Enjoy, and please give me areas to improve upon! This chapter was hastily written. Credit for the idea goes to a dear friend of mine, and I just needed to bring it to life.

Hopefully I won't do too many A/N's because they're annoying.

While the day clouded over and the sky turned to gray, the Avatar crouched next to his work, frowning. His cabbages simply weren't ripe enough, and he would have to delay his trip to the capital at least three days, meaning he wouldn't be able to sell his produce for another week. He sighed and looked towards the sky again, feeling the mood of the sky plunge into his heart. So he stood up, climbed the nearest tree to him, and began bending the clouds to expose the sun's form for just a little bit longer that day. His lovely cabbages needed more sunlight, after all, and he wasn't about to roast them with fire bending. No, no, that was only for performance and sales purposes only. The clouds began to dissipate, and he smiled at his work up above, a lock of hair falling from his sloppy, unkempt bun. And from there, he climbed down, and began tending to his fields once more.

In the capital, people had begun to embrace the dreary mood of the day. The citizens hunched over food stands or under awnings, trying to get back to work, or avoid going altogether. It was simply that kind of day. Suddenly, shrill alarm burst from some buildings, and a stern man's voice erupted from some speakers, urging everyone to go inside. The sky had cleared in a patch of land not too far from the capital, and many citizen's hearts sunk deeper. The Avatar's work had been spotted. And now they'd have no more cabbages for at least another week. As people huddled inside, frustrated, footsteps came stamping through the main streets, with soldiers chanting the national anthem. The townspeople were careful to murmur quietly among themselves, some snickering at the army's eventual defeat, some huddled against windows, straining to see if the Avatar's mess had been covered up yet.

He hadn't covered it up yet. And being quite a few miles away, the Avatar was still able to see the vibrant red alarms flashing and the cries of the national anthem. The Avatar sighed. He glanced at his cabbages. Then back up at the sky. Then at the sunset colored alarms. And back down at his cabbages again. His father had always upheld his standards of farming, passing the family career down to him. And even though his father had many run-ins with Avatar Aang and Avatar Korra, he did not relent to the threat of certain destruction to his business. He didn't even yield. The cabbages had always come first. And so, with a quick sorrowful look to the capital, he shrugged and went inside his small shack of a home, whistling the tune of the great national anthem as he walked.


	2. Chapter 2

The few troops the capital would send for him, though strong, would be no more than twenty in number, and unable to pass his literal firewall. The Avatar was sure he could surpass the nation's entire army in power, but was looking forward to seeing the troops again. It had been at least two weeks, maybe three. The troops knew the Avatar well, many by name, and once out of sight of the capital, their pace slowed to a leisurely walk. Chatter of how far Rikou had gone for his crops soon spread across the group, with many expressing excitement to see the young farmer again. It would be at least a night and half a day until the squad reached his abode, so they weren't in too much of a rush. Once dusk came, they set up camp and rested for the night.

By dawn, the troop was moving again on minimal hours of sleep. Whispers of Rikou had died down and their excitement had turned to pure annoyance that they were out in the dark, humid, unforgiving forest again. Now they were hungry and frustrated that they would have to see the Avatar, _again,_ while sleep deprived. So they marched on in silence. Only to be surrounded by a ring of fire.

Dammit.

Glares evident on their faces, the group looked towards the trees, searching for the Avatar's usual hiding spot. This was an earlier section of the forest than when he normally stopped them. The commander agitatedly yelled out for the Avatar because now they were tired, hungry, and sweaty. But the young man just shrugged, jumped from the tree, and lowered the flames a bit. The squad leader walked up to the edge of the flames and tried to ask, as calmly as possible, why they had been stopped this early.

The Avatar's eyes grew wider. "Oh," he exclaimed, "I just thought you guys would like to go home sooner."

Dammit.

Rikou was too nice for this.

The troop leader brought his hands to his forehead, massaging his temple gingerly. This time wasn't truly any different, except at the distance for which they had been stopped. There was no reason why they couldn't just give him another mild reprimanding. And yet, there had to be another reason he stopped them this early. He was nervous about something. He had to be. The commander did not back down. He stood his ground, the little bit of it that wasn't burning, and glared the Avatar into submission. After some pitiful fidgeting with his fingers, the young man met the leader's eyes.

"My cabbages, by law, are to be sold on the market every second Tuesday. This Tuesday they won't make it unless I've got the help of bending."

There was always an excuse. "But, as discussed Rikou, you would have to pay the fee like everyone else who can't make the deadline. It's not unreasonable, and no one else can use, or is allowed to use, the bending you possess. Need I remind you that you aren't allowed to bend either?" The commander said in a gruff voice.

"The regulation on prices won't allow for any extra income to pay that potential fee." The Avatar spat back.

"Everyone else seems to manage just fine." The commander retorted.

The Avatar paused, somewhat taken aback. The ring of fire fell and he crossed his arms.

"I know the punishment is probably different this time, right? The alarms were red." The Avatar said, not looking at the commander.

The older gentlemen shook his head, explaining that the Avatar had been moved up in terms of national threat. Now the color red was reserved for natural disasters and someone who could cause them, A.K.A, Rikou himself.

The two continued talking for a little while longer before the conversation ended with a handshake and a hug.

"Oh, and Rikou?" The commander asked, looking over his shoulder as the troop retreated.

"Yes?" He answered.

"Get a girlfriend." The commander muttered.

They both laughed, as if expecting him to take the advice seriously, but knew that Rikou was married to his cabbages.


End file.
